A Sip for a Cause!

Did you know that the word whisky comes from the latin for ‘Water of Life’? You probably did, because it’s one of those fun facts that everyone throws out once you start getting interested. Thanks to Scotland’s Maclean Foundation, it might just be able to live up to the name.

They’re using a new charity release, supplied by Glen Scotia, to provide people with a lifetime of clean water in Madagascar. There will be 210 bottles of eight-year-old bourbon whisky going for £115 each, with every sale guaranteeing that at least one Madagascan will have clean water for the rest of their life. With most of the country earning less than £2 a day, this will make a huge difference.

And it’s not the first time they’ve done it. The foundation, led by whisky aficionado Charles Maclean and his three sons, has already provided clean water to 2,000 people on the African island. Their charitable endeavours have earned the patriarch an MBE, and they don’t show any signs of slowing down. Next year, the rowing-fanatic brothers are looking to row the entire Pacific Ocean, from Peru to Australia. Now that’s commitment.

The bottle features a narration by Charles Maclean, who sees the whisky under the frame of Alice in Wonderland – calling out ‘Drink Me’ to anyone who wishes to enter a world of mystic imagination.

He has also provided an in-depth description of the whisky itself, saying: “It’s a lovely golden colour, completely clean and remarkably mature for its age. There are fruity top notes, possibly white grape and melon. It is complex. I’m getting a slightly mineralic note too; it somewhat reminds me of aromatherapy oil. It starts sweet, then becomes distinctly salty with some white pepper and peppery-spice in the mid-palate. It’s very pleasant and very easy to drink. I’m also detecting a vanilla and toffee note, which you would expect from American oak.”

Thank God he’s a whisky man – there’s no way we could’ve described it as well.

There’s nothing not to like here – delicious Scottish (but not Scotch) whisky that has the potential to bring untold amounts of good to those most in need. Their first release, back in 2020, was a sellout, and while there are still some at the time of writing – who knows how long that’s going to last?